Hancock earns AVCA National Player of the Year honor

Senior Micha Hancock is the fourth Nittany Lion to earn AVCA National Player of the Year.

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Hancock earns AVCA National Player of the Year honor

December 19, 2014

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State senior Micha Hancock has been named the 2014 AVCA DI National Player of the Year, as announced by the organization this morning. Hancock was presented with the award Friday (Dec. 19) afternoon at the AVCA All-America/Play of the Year brunch.

"It's an honor to be able to accept this award and be in this room with all of my teammates," Hancock said. "I am incredibly humbled."

Hancock is fourth Nittany Lion in program history to earn the prestigious honor, joining Megan Hodge (2009), Nicole Fawcett (2008) and Lauren Cacciamani (1990) in the elite group. Hancock recently earned her third consecutive first team AVCA All-America award, making her the 17th Nittany Lion in program history to earn three All-America selections.

Hancock's 2014 honors include a unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten team as well as AVCA All-Northeast Region honors. This year, she picked up five conference Setter of the Week awards, while also earning her second career AVCA DI National Player of the Week award (9/30). Hancock rewrote several record books during the 2014 regular season with her outstanding performances from the endline.

As the national leader in aces per set (1.01) for the 14th consecutive week, her single-season (126) and career aces (380) totals rank atop both the Big Ten and Penn State record books. In addition to her standout serving, she's directed the offense to a .345 hitting percentage, which ranks first nationally and leads the Big Ten.

Hancock recently directed the Nittany Lions to a 3-1 win against top-ranked Stanford for a spot in the NCAA national finals. Dishing out 55 assists, she paced the team to a .279 hitting percentage, while also contributing five kills on 11 errorless swings for a .455 hitting clip.

Hancock and the rest of the fifth-seeded Penn State women's volleyball team (35-3) are set to make their 10th appearance in the national title match, taking on unseeded BYU (30-4) Saturday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The matchup will broadcast live on ESPN2. Penn State enters Saturday's contest with a 6-3 record in national final matches, seeking back-to-back titles for the first time since 2009-10.